TBGB Pick of the Week: March 30, 2009

“The Love of God”
Soul Stirrers
From the Malaco Records CD A Soul Stirring Reunion 2008
www.malaco.com

In the early 1950s, Sam Cooke transformed the Soul Stirrers’ sound from hypnotic harmonies and dueling lead singers to a youthful vibe fronted by a singer with pop sensibilities. That’s a mouthful, but legions of Stirrers leads after Cooke, including Johnnie Taylor, Leroy Crume, Martin Jacox and Willie Rogers, adopted the effortless singing and trademark yodel that Cooke introduced to the group.

On Malaco’s A Soul Stirring Reunion, the quartet reprises this sophisticated sound more than fifty years after the transformation. Floyd Taylor performs “The Love of God” like his father, the late Johnnie Taylor, did in 1958, when the latter emulated his predecessor, Sam Cooke, with uncanny accuracy. Backing Taylor on “The Love of God” from A Soul Stirring Reunion are card-carrying Stirrers LeRoy and Arthur Crume, Eddie Huffman, Willie Rogers and Reverend Luther Gamble.

Incidentally, LeRoy Crume was also present for the 1958 recording of the song, as singer and guitarist, and the late Evelyn Gay tickled the gospel ivories.